The Yule Goat

The Yule Goat is an interesting individual, his history goes back to pre-Christian Scandinavia. In Finland his name is Joulupukki and in a nutshell he was basically a goat version of Santa Claus. He rides around in a sleigh pulled by reindeer, wears red clothes and hands out Christmas gifts. In some traditions he’s just a spirit that appears to ensure that Christmas preparations are in order.

These days in most regions he’s been replaced by Saint Nicholas but many people still incorporate him into Santa’s entourage, and the modern version of the Yule goat is a decorative ornament made out of straw and bound with red ribbons and it is placed below the Christmas Tree.

One notable straw goat is The Gävle goat, which is a gigantic straw Yule goat in Gavle Sweden. It has the distinction of being the largest Yule Goat, and it has become an unfortunate tradition for vandals to torch the goat every year or so, some goats don’t even last longer than six days before being destroyed. Burning the goat is an illegal act and it is not officially welcomed by the people of Gävle but it does draw tourists into town.

Yule be sorry!

There is even a Christmas song about the goat:

For highly informative articles on Christmas folklore follow the links:

Krampus!

I’ve got Krampus

Your own printable Krampus card!!!

Just as Santa differs in different regions so do his sidekicks. Krampus is basically a possessed, Satanic version of Black Peter and Rupert the Farm-hand. Krampus started as pre-Christian German figure and his legend spread to other alpine countries. Eventually he morphed into the guys we talked about before (Black Peter, Knecht Ruprecht) in some regions as he became incorporated into Christmas folklore. But he is still very much a part of the Christmas tradition in many places.

There are many variations of Krampus, but his basic form is that of a devilish, goat-like, beast. Long horns, cloven feet and covered with fur of varying colors.

Krampus is notoriously drunk and is said to reek of Schnapps and he likes to carry around a bundle of sticks to whip children with, and a tub or sack on his back so that he can more easily haul children off to be drowned, eaten or dragged to hell… I’m Not sure why this tradition never caught on in America.

Another Krampus-related tradition is to send out Krampus cards around the holidays. These cards usually depict Krampus shoving kids into baskets, pursuing large-breasted women or other strange sexual situations. Krampus is a real creep.

Gruss vom Krampus

Gruss vom Krampus!

Merry Krampusnacht little Hans!

We already covered Black Peter but there are other guys that like to hang around with Santa to psychologically torment and abuse naughty children…

Knecht Ruprecht

Ruprecht is another traditional German character. Roughly translated as Rupert the farm-hand. Rupert is basically Bizarro Santa; similar clothes but brown instead of red, long beard but it’s black instead of white, and he carries around a bag of ashes rather than toys. He gives some kids treats if they can prove to him that they are able to pray. But, if the kids are little heathens he beats them with his bag of ashes. He give bad kids crappy, useless gifts like coal, sticks and stones. So basically Santa has Rupert do all of his dirty work so he can bask in the glory of being the good guy. Apparently, Rupert can’t get a US Visa because Santa has to show his true colors and give out all the coal himself around these parts, and he seems to be pretty lax, that’s probably why kids are such spoiled brats here. We need more kids to be beaten with a bag of ashes…

Also, The Simpson’s dog is named Knecht Ruprecht in Germany rather than Santa’s little helper.

Christmas Folklore, Legends and Traditions!

SINTERKLASS

Easy to draw, grumpy Santa with a squid-pope hat.

Like all the different varieties out there, the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas has many similarities to the fat man in red we call Santa.

Sinterklass makes his rounds in the beginning of December (around the 5th). He traditionally arrives by boat surrounded by his little racially insensitive black slaves called Zwarte Pieten (Black Petes). Apparently they ride around the village with a fleet of white horses, it’s not clear if the horses ride in on the boat with him or if each harbor has a new set for him when he arrives.

Sinter finds out who has been bad or good by sending his little henchmen chimney to chimney, where they listen and gather intel. He then goes around town giving chocolate to all the good kids.

The origination of Black Peter is somewhat cloudy. Early on, it has been said that Sinterklass was accompanied by a subservient, dark demon bound with chains, helping him do his dirty work of giving kids chocolate. Some early legends say that Black Pete was a Black Moor rather than a demon. So, basically Robin Hood Princes of Thieves stole the idea for Morgan Freeman’s character Azeem from Sinterklass. It would have made the movie more interesting if they would have given Azeem the same appearance as Black Pete; a white guy in black face with red lipstick wearing a renaissance style page uniform…

Geesh…

For highly informative articles on Christmas folklore follow the links:

Looking deeper into the history of the un-dead, maroonbeard.com stumbled upon an ancient Etruscan Zombie Mural. This find once again reveals the similarities we share even with the oldest civilization.

Make sure to check out our previous Zombie Mural from the Persian Empire here.

Recently the research team at Maroonbeard.com came across this Ancient Persian Zombie Mural and we just had to share it! This proves once again that Zombies have a far-reaching and timeless presence in the history of civilization.

Krampus!

I’ve got Krampus

Just as Santa differs in different regions so do his sidekicks. Krampus is basically a possessed, Satanic version of Black Peter and Rupert the Farm-hand. Krampus started as pre-Christian German figure and his legend spread to other alpine countries. Eventually he morphed into the guys we talked about before (Black Peter, Knecht Ruprecht) in some regions as he became incorporated into Christmas folklore. But he is still very much a part of the Christmas tradition in many places.

There are many variations of Krampus, but his basic form is that of a devilish, goat-like, beast. Long horns, cloven feet and covered with fur of varying colors.

Krampus is notoriously drunk and is said to reek of Schnapps and he likes to carry around a bundle of sticks to whip children with, and a tub or sack on his back so that he can more easily haul children off to be drowned, eaten or dragged to hell… I’m Not sure why this tradition never caught on in America.

Another Krampus-related tradition is to send out Krampus cards around the holidays. These cards usually depict Krampus shoving kids into baskets, pursuing large-breasted women or other strange sexual situations, Krampus is a real creep.

Merry Krampusnacht little Hans!

We already covered Black Peter but there are other guys that like to hang around with Santa to psychologically torment and abuse naughty children…

Knecht Ruprecht

Ruprecht is another traditional German character. Roughly translated as Rupert the farm-hand. Rupert is basically Bizarro Santa; similar clothes but brown instead of red, long beard but it’s black instead of white, and he carries around a bag of ashes rather than toys. He gives some kids treats if they can prove to him that they are able to pray. But, if the kids are little heathens he beats them with his bag of ashes. He give bad kids crappy, useless gifts like coal, sticks and stones. So basically Santa has Rupert do all of his dirty work so he can bask in the glory of being the good guy. Apparently, Rupert can’t get a US Visa because Santa has to show his true colors and give out all the coal himself around these parts, and he seems to be pretty lax, that’s probably why kids are such spoiled brats here. We need more kids to be beaten with a bag of ashes…

Also, The Simpson’s dog is named Knecht Ruprecht in Germany rather than Santa’s little helper.